While Christian Bale has taken a break from the big screen in 2011, that's only because he's been busy getting some more movies in the can. Of course, there is next summer's blockbuster "The Dark Knight Rises" which is currently filming but before he headed back to Gotham this summer, Bale took an interesting detour that found him starring in the latest from Zhang Yimou, "The Flowers Of War."

While Christian Bale has taken a break from the big screen in 2011, that's only because he's been busy getting some more movies in the can. Of course, there is next summer's blockbuster "The Dark Knight Rises" which is currently filming but before he headed back to Gotham this summer, Bale took an interesting detour that found him starring in the latest from Zhang Yimou, "The Flowers Of War."

Now selected as China's official entry for this year's Oscars, the story focuses on the Nanjing Massacre in 1937, when thousands of inhabitants of the then-capital Nanjing were murdered by invading Japanese troops. Bale plays an American priest named John who shelters prostitutes and students during the attack. With a budget of $90 million, the film is one of the most expensive films made in China ever, and the dialogue will be mixed with 40% in English and 60% in Mandarin Chinese. A poster for the film has arrived, and while it's not the most eye-catching piece of work we've seen, it's another taste of the film that we'll have to make do with for now.

"The Flowers Of War" is still without U.S. distribution so there's no word yet on when we'll get to see it, but we'd imagine that situation will change soon enough. Check out the full poster below. [via FirstShowing]